A: Anticipation Activities Activity 1A: Research information: (Comprehension)
A.4.4 Read to acquire information. (Summarize key details of informational texts, connecting new information to prior knowledge.)
Students will be grouped into pairs or threes and instructed to view this WetPaint website: . They will each pick one or two categories to read and pick out the most important information. Then, they will share that information with the other students in their group. Finally, I will ask one random student from each group, “Why do you think this information will be important to the story?” They should answer to the effect of the role history and values play and a person’s life or how greatly a persons country can affect them as an individual.
Activity 2A: Vocabulary: parts of speech word sort (Phonics, Vocabulary)
D.4.1 Develop their vocabulary of words, phrases, and idioms as a means of improving communication.
Students will use the Kidspiration template to sort vocabulary words into the parts of speech categories: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Then they will write a sentence in their journals containing each word.
Activity 3A: Anticipation guide (Comprehension)
A.4.1 Use effective reading strategies to achieve their purposes in reading. (Identify a purpose for reading, such as gaining information, learning about a viewpoint, and appreciating literature.)
Students will use this worksheet and determine whether they agree or disagree with a particular main idea or theme from the story, first, before reading the book, and then while reflecting post reading the book.
Activity 1B:Visuwords.com(Vocabulary) D.4.1 Develop their vocabulary of words, phrases, and idioms as a means of improving communication. (Consult dictionaries, thesauruses, and other resources to find and compare definitions, choose among synonyms, and spell words correctly.)
Students will type each vocabulary word into thewww.visuwords.com site and identify and document two synonyms. Then they will create a definition for that word in their own words. Vocabulary words: emperor, pluck, palace, Imperial, clamor, lotus, unfurl, dormant, silently, fade, arrive, towering
Example picture:
Activity 2B: KWL (Comprehension)
A.4.2 Read, interpret, and critically analyze literature. (Extend the literal meaning of a text by making inferences, and evaluate the significance and validity of texts in light of prior knowledge and experience.)
Ask to students to pick one of three topics (Vietnam, emperors of Asia, or lotus flowers) to be the topic of their Kidspiration KWL. Before opening the book, ask the students to document what they already know about their topic (K). Read the first four or so pages of the book aloud in class; then, ask the students to think about and write down what they now want to know about their topic (W). Lastly, finish reading the book (either aloud or individually) and have the students note what they have now learned about their topic from reading the story. If sufficient information was not gleaned, encourage students to do individual research in the library or using the internet.
Activity 3B: Genre- Realistic Fiction (Comprehension, Fluency)
C.4.2 Listen to and comprehend oral communications. (Distinguish fact from fantasy and fact from opinion .)
Introduce this more complicated genre through a series of questions, conducted as a large class discussion.
Ask students: Is this story fiction or non-fiction? (Fiction) Could this story really have happened? (Yes) Then to classify it into a more specific genre, we call it a REALISTIC FICTION. What kind of characteristics do you think a realistic fiction story would have? (based on real events, no make-believe characters) What kinds of things would not happen in a realistic fiction book? (aliens appear, cats and dogs start talking) How does this help us predict what might happen as we read the story?
C: Consolidating Activities
Activity 1C: Duel-entry Diary (Comprehension)
B.4.1 Create or produce writing to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes. (Write expressive pieces in response to reading, viewing, and life experiences (narratives, reflections, and letters) employing descriptive detail and a personal voice .)
Tell students to copy a passage from the book (perhaps a page of text) on the left side of the book print out. On the right side, ask the to write a response to that passage. Answer: How does it make you feel about the characters or the setting?
Examples:
One day bombs fell all around, and soldiers clamored door to door. She took the time to grab the seed, but left her mother-of-pearl hair combs lying on the floor.
OR
And when she married a young man chosen by her parents, she carried the seed inside her pocket for good luck, long life, and many children. When her husband marched off to war, she raised her children alone.
Activity 2C: Recount your own event- Writingfun.com(Comprehension, Fluency)
B.4.2 Plan, revise, edit, and publish clear and effective writing. (Produce multiple drafts, including finished pieces, that demonstrate the capacity to generate, focus, and organize ideas and to revise the language, organization, and content of successive drafts in order to fulfill a specific purpose for communicating with a specific audience.)
This story recounts certain events in history and how one of the Vietnamese people might have acted in the turmoil of war. Now it’s the students’ turn. Using the Writingfun.comsite Recount template, they will document an interesting event in their own life. After they have filled out the template online, they can print it and construct it into a series of paragraphs with sentences that flow until they have developed their own recollection.
Activity 3C: Create a Storyboard (Comprehension)
A.4.2 Read, interpret, and critically analyze literature. (Recognize and recall elements and details of story structure, such as sequence of events, character, plot, and setting, in order to reflect on meaning .)
Students will use the Kidspiration template to create their own Storyboard for the book. They may work on their own or in pairs.
Use these happenings for prompts if needed:
- The seed bloomed and Ba gave each of her grandchildren a seed to remember her by.
- Ba plucked a seed from the Imperial garden and saved it in a special place under the family alter.
- She had to leave Vietnam because of a war.
- In the United States she worked many years with her family, living together in one big house.
- She married a man chosen by her parents and had children.
- She took a crowded boat to a strange new land.
- The Emperor lost his golden dragon throne.
- Her grandson stole the seed and planted it in a pool of mud. Ba was very sad.
By: Sherry Garland
A: Anticipation Activities
Activity 1A: Research information: (Comprehension)
A.4.4 Read to acquire information. (Summarize key details of informational texts, connecting new information to prior knowledge.)
Students will be grouped into pairs or threes and instructed to view this WetPaint website: . They will each pick one or two categories to read and pick out the most important information. Then, they will share that information with the other students in their group. Finally, I will ask one random student from each group, “Why do you think this information will be important to the story?” They should answer to the effect of the role history and values play and a person’s life or how greatly a persons country can affect them as an individual.
Activity 2A: Vocabulary: parts of speech word sort (Phonics, Vocabulary)
D.4.1 Develop their vocabulary of words, phrases, and idioms as a means of improving communication.
Students will use the Kidspiration template to sort vocabulary words into the parts of speech categories: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Then they will write a sentence in their journals containing each word.
Activity 3A: Anticipation guide (Comprehension)
A.4.1 Use effective reading strategies to achieve their purposes in reading. (Identify a purpose for reading, such as gaining information, learning about a viewpoint, and appreciating literature.)
Students will use this worksheet and determine whether they agree or disagree with a particular main idea or theme from the story, first, before reading the book, and then while reflecting post reading the book.
B: Building Knowledge Activities
Activity 1B: Visuwords.com(Vocabulary)
D.4.1 Develop their vocabulary of words, phrases, and idioms as a means of improving communication. (Consult dictionaries, thesauruses, and other resources to find and compare definitions, choose among synonyms, and spell words correctly.)
Students will type each vocabulary word into thewww.visuwords.com site and identify and document two synonyms. Then they will create a definition for that word in their own words. Vocabulary words: emperor, pluck, palace, Imperial, clamor, lotus, unfurl, dormant, silently, fade, arrive, towering
Example picture:
Activity 2B: KWL (Comprehension)
A.4.2 Read, interpret, and critically analyze literature. (Extend the literal meaning of a text by making inferences, and evaluate the significance and validity of texts in light of prior knowledge and experience.)
Ask to students to pick one of three topics (Vietnam, emperors of Asia, or lotus flowers) to be the topic of their Kidspiration KWL. Before opening the book, ask the students to document what they already know about their topic (K). Read the first four or so pages of the book aloud in class; then, ask the students to think about and write down what they now want to know about their topic (W). Lastly, finish reading the book (either aloud or individually) and have the students note what they have now learned about their topic from reading the story. If sufficient information was not gleaned, encourage students to do individual research in the library or using the internet.
Activity 3B: Genre- Realistic Fiction (Comprehension, Fluency)
C.4.2 Listen to and comprehend oral communications. (Distinguish fact from fantasy and fact from opinion .)
Introduce this more complicated genre through a series of questions, conducted as a large class discussion.
Ask students: Is this story fiction or non-fiction? (Fiction) Could this story really have happened? (Yes) Then to classify it into a more specific genre, we call it a REALISTIC FICTION. What kind of characteristics do you think a realistic fiction story would have? (based on real events, no make-believe characters) What kinds of things would not happen in a realistic fiction book? (aliens appear, cats and dogs start talking) How does this help us predict what might happen as we read the story?
C: Consolidating Activities
Activity 1C: Duel-entry Diary (Comprehension)
B.4.1 Create or produce writing to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes. (Write expressive pieces in response to reading, viewing, and life experiences (narratives, reflections, and letters) employing descriptive detail and a personal voice .)
Tell students to copy a passage from the book (perhaps a page of text) on the left side of the book print out. On the right side, ask the to write a response to that passage. Answer: How does it make you feel about the characters or the setting?
Examples:
One day bombs fell all around, and soldiers clamored door to door. She took the time to grab the seed, but left her mother-of-pearl hair combs lying on the floor.
OR
And when she married a young man chosen by her parents, she carried the seed inside her pocket for good luck, long life, and many children. When her husband marched off to war, she raised her children alone.
Activity 2C: Recount your own event- Writingfun.com (Comprehension, Fluency)
B.4.2 Plan, revise, edit, and publish clear and effective writing. (Produce multiple drafts, including finished pieces, that demonstrate the capacity to generate, focus, and organize ideas and to revise the language, organization, and content of successive drafts in order to fulfill a specific purpose for communicating with a specific audience.)
This story recounts certain events in history and how one of the Vietnamese people might have acted in the turmoil of war. Now it’s the students’ turn. Using the Writingfun.com site Recount template, they will document an interesting event in their own life. After they have filled out the template online, they can print it and construct it into a series of paragraphs with sentences that flow until they have developed their own recollection.
Below is a Word document that can be used as an organizer if not enough computers are present.
Activity 3C: Create a Storyboard (Comprehension)
A.4.2 Read, interpret, and critically analyze literature. (Recognize and recall elements and details of story structure, such as sequence of events, character, plot, and setting, in order to reflect on meaning .)
Students will use the Kidspiration template to create their own Storyboard for the book. They may work on their own or in pairs.
Use these happenings for prompts if needed:
- The seed bloomed and Ba gave each of her grandchildren a seed to remember her by.
- Ba plucked a seed from the Imperial garden and saved it in a special place under the family alter.
- She had to leave Vietnam because of a war.
- In the United States she worked many years with her family, living together in one big house.
- She married a man chosen by her parents and had children.
- She took a crowded boat to a strange new land.
- The Emperor lost his golden dragon throne.
- Her grandson stole the seed and planted it in a pool of mud. Ba was very sad.